The Great Lakes hold nearly 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater, making them a resource of national and international importance. They power regional economies, support shipping routes vital to global trade, and provide drinking water to 40 million people across the U.S. and Canada. Safeguarding the Great Lakes is not only essential for the communities that rely on them daily, but also for the stability of North America’s environment, economy, and international partnerships.
Fresh is a weekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every Wednesday.
— Christian Thorsberg, Fresh Editor
Weekly Watershed
The governors of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan have called for the EPA to monitor microplastic contamination in public drinking water supplies starting in 2027.
For the second time, FEMA has denied federal aid for Upper Peninsula communities in Michigan to rebuild energy and water infrastructure following a historic ice storm.
Pennsylvania has expanded a new state program that fast-tracks the review and issuance of environmental permits, including for dam safety, wetland encroachment, oil and gas disturbances, and small mining operations.
ExxonMobil and the state of New York have agreed to a settlement that will fund the cleanup of a former oil refinery that has polluted Rochester for over a century.
Fresh from the Great Lakes News Collaborative
Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source — The Narwhal
Trump administration issues third order to keep west Michigan coal plant running — Michigan Public
$18M approved in bill credits for Pennsylvania customers in ‘forever chemicals’ settlement — Great Lakes Now
Michigan data center review looks like ‘rush job,’ Dana Nessel says — Bridge Michigan
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.
The Lead
Pennsylvania State Budget: This month, more than 130 days late, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Pennsylvania’s $50.1 billion 2025-26 budget into law, which includes two key environmental changes.
First, in the wake of uncertain federal aid distribution after extreme weather, the budget doubles Pennsylvania’s available funds — from $20 million to $40 million — for disaster assistance.
“Pennsylvania has been hit hard in recent years by flooding and other natural disasters in places like Tioga County and Bucks County, and as the federal government walks away and shirks its responsibility, Pennsylvania is working together to increase state support to respond to future disasters,” a press release from the governor’s office reads.
But the more consequential change is the expansion of an effort within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), meant to expedite permitting for business and development.
In June, the DEP launched its Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) program, which at the time allowed for the expedited review of Chapter 102 individual NPDES permits for stormwater discharges associated with construction activities. Put simply, these permits are needed for large construction projects that disturb at least an acre of soil; they ensure erosion is minimized and polluted runoff does not wash into freshwater sources.
In late October, the commonwealth announced that its backlog of more than 2,000 overdue DEP permits, some nearly two years old, had been sorted through.
The SPEED program’s expansion will now allow for the expedited reviews of six other types of permits relating to stormwater control, dam safety, waterway and wetland encroachment, oil and gas site exploration, and small mining operations.
With its growth, even more projects portend to move quickly through regulatory review, which will now be tracked via the commonwealth’s new public permit dashboard.
“Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, we have worked hard to cut bureaucratic red tape to better serve Pennsylvanians,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley in a statement. “SPEED demonstrates that DEP is committed to getting stuff done and moving at the speed of business with our partners.”
Last week, the first stormwater management permit through the SPEED program was issued for a mixed-use development area in York.
In the News
Power Line Rebuild: In late October, FEMA denied for a second time the state of Michigan’s request for federal disaster assistance to fix power lines and rural infrastructure that were destroyed in a historic ice storm in late March.
“The past few days have brought unimaginable hardship for hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, but significant progress has been made in clearing debris from roadways, restoring power and ensuring residents have essential supplies like food and water,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police and state director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, in a statement following the historic event.
Roughly 2,800 utility poles, 900 transformers, and 3,800 miles of power lines required maintenance, which remains ongoing. For weeks on end, Upper Peninsula residents were left without energy and running water. The area suffered up to $137 million in utility damages, “which is the highest ever total of Public Assistance-related damages assessed in FEMA Region V,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote in August.
Despite President Trump issuing a disaster declaration for the storm, the federal government’s subsequent refusal to offer funding is consistent with other recent denials for states with Democratic governors after extreme weather events. Appeals for federal assistance following summer flooding in both Wisconsin and Illinois were also denied.
In the absence of aid, Upper Peninsula utility customers may need to endure massive rate hikes to fund reconstruction. The Whitmer administration estimates surcharges and bill increases of at least $4,500 per household.
In Context: The Next Deluge May Go Differently
ExxonMobil Settlement: The oil giant has agreed to a deal with the state of New York to investigate and clean a former 33-acre Vacuum Oil facility in the city of Rochester along the Genesee River, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced this week.
From the 1860s through 1930s, Vacuum — an Exxon precursor — operated the facility as a refinery where “crude oil, kerosene, naphtha, finished lubricants, and containers for these products were manufactured and stored on site, resulting in historical chemical and oil contamination, including groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds and metals,” according to a DEC statement.
As part of the agreement, ExxonMobil will reimburse the state $250,000 for previous investigations and cleanup activities. Once cleaned, the area will be part of Rochester’s planned new riverwalk corridor.
Looking Ahead
Microplastics: Three Great Lakes governors — J.B. Pritzker (IL), Tony Evers (WI), and Gretchen Whitmer (MI) — were among seven state leaders to sign a petition last week calling on the U.S. EPA to begin monitoring microplastic contamination in the nation’s drinking water supplies, beginning in 2027.
Such tracking would occur through the agency’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule program, which was established in 1999.
For over 20 years, the program has collected data on priority contaminants that are unregulated but anticipated to exist in public drinking water systems. The data is the basis for future rule-making.
Every five years, the list of contaminants is updated. Adding a new contaminant to the list “is often the first important step in determining whether a drinking water standard is warranted,” according to a press release from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who led the petition.
Recent reports have shown that microplastic pollution — particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter — in the Great Lakes is an increasingly pervasive issue.
A 2022 study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that 85 percent of sampled fish in the Muskegon, Milwaukee, and St. Joseph’s rivers contained microplastics in their digestive tracts. Annually, roughly 22 million pounds of plastic are discarded into the Great Lakes.
You can find more stories from the Great Lakes region here.
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